System and method for transmitting content items

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a system that optimizes transmission bandwidth of a broadband transmission system such as a cable television, satellite system, or wireless information service. Requests for content items from users are employed to add or delete content items from a list. Content items in the list are ranked relative to the number of requests received or by rate of request. Package groups are created with most requested content items being broadcast more frequently than less requested content items. Transmit groups are produced from package groups and placed in a broadcast queue. A transmit process transmits groups retrieved from the queue.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.12/984,413, filed on Jan. 4, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,429,290, which isa continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/067,460, filed on Feb. 4,2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,870,283, which claims the benefit of priorityof U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/266,335, filed Feb. 2, 2001,which applications are incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

a. Field of Invention

The present invention pertains generally to broadband networks and morespecifically to a method of efficiently utilizing available bandwidth toprovide video, streaming media image and information desired by users ofa broadband network.

b. Description of the Background

Broadband is a form of data transmission in which a single medium, suchas a wire, cable or satellite link, for example, can carry severalchannels at once. In contrast, baseband transmission allows only onesignal at a time. Cable television systems use broadband transmissionfor television program distribution. In addition to program content suchas television programs, cable systems may also provide Internetconnections employing cable modems. Cable system Internet supportemploys both upstream and downstream data transfers. Such data transfersmay also be employed to support interactive television. Interactivetelevision may furnish viewers additional information such as a newsitem display or a stock ticker that may be scrolled across the bottom ofthe screen, for example. Cable system data transmissions may compriseboth isochronous and asynchronous transfers. Isochronous transfers areconstant data rate transfers as may be used for streaming audio andvideo where a regular data transfer rate is needed to maintain pictureor audio quality. Asynchronous transfers may vary in data rate and mayexhibit burstiness as channel bandwidth becomes available. A cablesystem typically employs isochronous transfers for program content suchas movies and may support isochronous transfers to support QoS (Qualityof Service) data transfer modes as specified by DOCSIS (Data Over CableSystem Interface Specification). Asynchronous transfers are employed forother data services, such as DOCSIS ‘best effort’ modes, and datatransfer rate may vary with the number of users, size of files beingtransferred, and bandwidth allocated to isochronous transfer. Thebandwidth of a cable system is divided among broadcast programs,subscriber services, and Internet data transfers. Internet orinteractive television users may subscribe to news and data serviceswhere information may be sent to users at some regular interval or inresponse to a particular event. Further, users may log on to servicesthat provide less than real time video, such as cameras showing weatheror traffic for example. As the number of modem users or interactiveusers increase, system performance may decrease, resulting in areduction in service that may result in reduced customer satisfaction orreduced revenues. In order to optimize revenue and maintain customersatisfaction, a method of network management is needed that optimizesdata services to a large base of users while preserving a level ofservice quality.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention overcomes the disadvantages and limitations of theprior art by providing a system and method for dynamically controllingthe content and frequency of transmission of data elements over anetwork.

The present invention may therefore comprise a method for transmittingrequested content items in a broadband transmission system comprising:receiving requests for a plurality of content items on an upstream pathof the broadband transmission system; creating a list of the contentitems; creating a request count for each content item of the pluralityof content items; sorting the requests using the count; and transmittingcontent items with a higher count more frequently than content itemswith a lower count.

The present invention may further comprise a system for optimizingbandwidth utilization in a broadband transmission system comprising: afirst database containing a plurality of content items; a seconddatabase containing user request information for the content items; atransmit unit; a server computer; and a software program that processesthe request information received across the broadband transmissionsystem and determines a rate of request for each content item of theplurality of content items in the first database and establishes afrequency of transmission for each content item of the plurality ofcontent items in the first database responsive to the rate of requestfor each content item of the plurality of content items in the firstdatabase.

An advantage of the present invention is that it allows selection andtransmission of content items to users over a broadband network in ahighly efficient manner. By transmitting some content items lessfrequently, bandwidth is made available which may be used to supportadditional users or to provide a wider variety of content items,providing an opportunity for increased revenue and greater usersatisfaction. Content items may comprise news, weather, stockinformation and broadcast programs such as movies. Users may submitrequests to add or delete content items through an on-screen menu,Internet website or other interface. Requests are processed by thesystem of the present invention to produce a list of requested contentitems and the number of times each content item has been requested.Content items for which there are no requests are removed from the listof requested content items. Content items are sorted relative to thenumber of requests made for that content item and placed in transmitpackages. Transmit packages may include minimum content requestinformation such that only content items which have a request countgreater than a predetermined number are placed in that transmit package.Content items that have a lower request count are broadcast lessfrequently than content items that have a higher request count number ofrequests. For example, if sports scores are shown across the bottom of adisplayed image, scores for teams for which there are more requests willbe displayed more frequently than scores for teams for which there arefewer requests.

Transmit packages are further processed by a transmit process whichdetermines the transmit time needed for each package. Packages aresupplied to a transmit queue and are transmitted. The system and methodof the present invention may be implemented as part of a cabletelevision system operator server, or may be implemented on a separateserver.

The invention may also be used to create part of a higher bandwidthtransmission stream. For example, the system and method of the presentinvention may be used to organize and control the content of stockquotes supplied to a broadcaster from a news service that are thendisplayed in a lower portion of the screen during newscasts. The presentinvention may be used to determine the frequency of broadcast of contentitems based on the duration of content items, the frequency of requestof the content items, and the bandwidth available for broadcast of thecontent items. In this manner, if a broadcaster provides a substantiallyconstant bandwidth for broadcast of news, for example, the system andmethod of the present invention may provide a set of content items andbroadcast frequency such that the provided bandwidth is utilized withoutdead time when no content items are displayed.

Depending on available bandwidth, the system and method of the presentinvention may be used to transmit only those content items for whichthere is some minimum number of requests. The invention is applicablebut not limited to audio programming, video programming, and datatransmission. The invention may also be employed to manage datatransmission to wireless data devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the figures;

FIG. 1 is a system overview block diagram.

FIG. 2 depicts a flowchart for a content filter process.

FIG. 3 depicts a flowchart for content group packaging.

FIG. 4 depicts a flowchart for group transmission.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the method of the present invention as may beapplied to displaying stock prices.

FIG. 6 depicts a method for applying the present invention to programsand program episodes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a system overview block diagram. Display unit 112 and usertransceiver 110 allow the user to view program content and to interactwith the system of the present invention. Display unit 112 may be atelevision, computer monitor or other device. User transceiver 110 maybe a set top box, modem, satellite interface or other device. Usertransceiver 110 communicates with broadband transceiver 108 and may beused to make requests for content items. Broadband transceiver 108communicates with broadband operator hardware 106 which may be equipmentoperated by a cable television company. Broadband operator hardware 106communicates with bandwidth optimization server 100 that processescontent items requests from users. Bandwidth optimization server 100utilizes content storage 102 to create optimized content that may bestored in optimized content storage 104. Alternatively, optimizedcontent storage 104 may contain an index or listing of optimized contentthat then may be retrieved from content storage 102. Bandwidthoptimization server 100 transfers optimized content to broadbandoperator hardware 106 for transmission to users through broadbandtransceiver 108.

FIG. 2 depicts a flowchart for a content filter process. The contentfilter process adds or removes content items from the content set andprovides a count of the number of requests for each content item. Userssubmit content requests using all on-screen menu, Internet connection,or other method that result in a content change request 200. Processingof content change request 200 begins with process setup step 202 whichperforms fetch content set step 204 and may perform other tasks such aslocking the current content set and other actions such that broadcast ofcontent may continue while the content set is updated. Step 206 checksif there are more changes. When all changes have been made, step 208saves the content set and step 210 terminates the change process.Terminating the change process may include actions to unlock and use thecurrent content set for broadcast. When all changes have not been made,step 206 routes changes to step 212 where the change is examined to seeif it is an add content change. If the result of step 212 is that thechange is an add content change, step 214 checks if the content itemexists in the current content set. If the result of step 214 is that theitem is already in the content set, increment content access count step216 is performed. Processing then returns to step 206 which checks ifthere are more changes. If the result of step 214 is that the contentitem is not in the current content set, step 218 adds the content itemto the content set and sets the access count to one. Processing thenreturns to step 206 which checks if there are more changes. If theresult of step 212 is that the change is not an add content change, step220 checks if the change is to remove content. If the change is not toremove content, error log step 230 saves change information andprocessing returns to step 206. If step 220 determines that the changeis to remove content, step 255 checks if the content item exists in thecurrent content set. If the content does not exist in the currentcontent set, error log step 230 saves change information and processingreturns to step 206. If step 222 determines that the content does existsin the current content set, step 260 decrements the content accesscount. Step 226 checks if the content access count is equal to zero. Ifthe result of step 226 is that the access count is not zero, processingreturns to step 206. If the result of step 226 is that the contentaccess count is equal to zero, step 228 removes the content item fromthe current content set. Processing then returns to step 206.

FIG. 3 depicts a flowchart for content group packaging. Content grouppackaging assembles most frequently requested content items into packagegroups for broadcast. Content group packaging employs contentinformation including access count and duration, plus availablebandwidth of the broadcast system. Repackaging occurs whenever scheduledby a broadband operator. Repackage event 300 invokes process setup step302 which performs fetch configuration data step 304 and may includeother actions such as data set locking to support broadcast withprevious configuration data while configuration data is updated.Configuration data may include the maximum number of packages to create,the maximum package size, and maximum bandwidth timing that may be usedto calculate retransmission repeat rates for each package. At step 306,package groups are created using the configuration data fetched in step304. At step 308, the package groups are populated using content itemssorted by access count in step 310. Each package group containsinformation for the package retransmit rate, the package priority, thepackage size, the maximum package size and the minimum content requestcount. The package retransmit rate indicates how often the packageshould be transmitted and may be calculated or may be assigned a valuethrough configuration. The package priority indicates the priority ofthe package that reflects the position of the package when sorted byaccess count in step 310. Step 312 checks if the last content item hasbeen placed in a package group. If the result of step 312 is that thelast content item has not been placed in a group, step 314 examinesgroups and finds the first group where the access count of the contentitem is greater than the minimum access count for that group, therebyproviding for content items with higher access counts to be grouped inthe same group. Step 316 examines the group found in step 314 todetermine if the current group count plus the size of the content itemsize exceeds the maximum package size. If the result of step 316 is thatthe maximum package size is not exceeded, the item is added to the groupin step 318 and the group count is incremented in step 320. Processingthen continues at step 312. If the result of step 316 is that themaximum group count would be exceeded, step 322 selects the next groupand step 316 is again performed. Steps 316 and 322 are performed until agroup is found that has sufficient remaining size to include the contentitem. When step 312 determines that the last content item has beenprocessed, step 324 saves the package data. Step 326 terminates thepackage process. Terminating the package process may include actions tounlock the data and make it available for use in broadcast.

FIG. 4 depicts a flowchart for group transmission. Package grouptransmission is the process of supplying package groups to the broadbandsystem for transmission to users. Start transmit application 400 firstperforms step 402 to create a group transmit queue. Creating a grouptransmit queue may employ concurrent processes as depicted by dottedoutline in FIG. 4. Steps 420 to 424 comprise a process that may operateconcurrently with steps 412 through 418. Step 404 fetches configurationdata that includes the number of groups, group timing information, thegroup priority and the group retransmit rate. Step 406 retrieves acontent item from a group. Step 408 creates time information for eachpackage group. Step 410 determines if more content items exist in thegroup. If more items exist in the group, step 406 gets the next contentitem from the group and step 408 adds time information from the contentitem. When step 410 determines that all content items have beenprocessed, timer information is passed to queue insertion process step412. Step 414 waits for a group timer to expire. When a group timerexpires, step 416 adds the transmit group processed by steps 406 through410 to the transmit queue. Step 418 restarts the transmit timer afterwhich step 414 waits for this timer to expire and then adds the nextgroup to the transmit queue. Concurrently with steps 412 to 418, thetransmit process comprising steps 420 to 424 may be executed. Step 420creates a transmit process. The transmit queue is a FIFO that step 422examines to determine if there is a group in the queue. If a group ispresent in the queue, step 424 transmits the group and then step 422determines if there is a next group in the queue. If a group is notpresent in the queue, step 422 waits until a group is placed in thequeue from the process comprising steps 412 to 418.

The present invention optimizes available bandwidth by transmitting mostrequested information more frequently than less requested information.For example, if football scores are displayed in a lower portion of atelevision screen in response to viewer request, updates of scores forthe most frequently requested teams may be displayed most often andscores of less requested teams may be displayed less often. Since cablesystems are regional entities, viewers will likely most frequentlyrequest information for local teams, teams that may affect the standingof the local teams, and the like. Regional preferences for informationmay also apply to stock information.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the method of the present invention as may beapplied to displaying stock prices. At step 500, requests are receivedfrom viewers for prices of stock for a group of companies. If the cablesystem is located in a region that produces automobiles, for example,requests for automobile company stock prices may be most frequentlyreceived. At step 502, the most frequent requests are determined. Thedetermination may include a time average of requests updated at apredetermined interval. At step 504, current information is accessed.Access may employ a query of network accessible databases. At step 506 atransmit queue is assembled. The transmit queue reflects the frequencyof request such that, for example, stock prices for automobile companiesmay be displayed once every minute whereas stock prices for lessfrequently requested companies may be displayed every three minutes. Atstep 508 the stock prices are broadcast.

In addition to optimizing utilization of system bandwidth for dataservices, the present invention may also be employed to optimize programbroadcast bandwidth. For example, a broadcaster may offer a favoritesweekend where favorite programs and favorite episodes of favoriteprograms are presented. The present invention may be employed in atiered fashion such that a first implementation determines the frequencyof request for types of programs and a second implementation determinesthe frequency of request for content of frequently requested programs.FIG. 6 depicts a method for applying the present invention to programsand program episodes. At step 600 requests for program episodes arereceived. At step 602 the most frequent program requests are determined.Steps 604 and 606 interoperate such that the most requested episodes foreach of the most requested programs are determined. At step 608 atransmit queue is assembled. At step 610, content information isaccessed, and at step 612 the most frequently requested episodes of mostfrequently requested programs are broadcast. The method illustrated inFIG. 6 may employ decision criteria such that if the vast majority ofepisode requests are for the same program, then a presentation maycomprise episodes of that one program. Alternatively, decision criteriamay be employed such that a variety of programs may be presented withthe most requested episodes for each program. The method illustrated inFIG. 6 may also be employed to select between types of presentations,such as stock quotes, music charts, and sports scores, for example,wherein a first determination is used to establish a frequency ofpresentation, and a second determination may be employed to determinethe frequency of presentation of information within each presentationtype. The present invention may employ long term information to producetrend based program and item selection, or may employ short-terminformation to provide dynamic and real-time selection of broadcastcontent. Advantageously, the present invention provides for optimizedviewer satisfaction while efficiently using available bandwidth bypresenting most requested content, or most requested content types andmost requested elements of those content types, at frequent intervalsand presenting less requested content or less requested content types atless frequent intervals.

The foregoing description of the invention has been presented forpurposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, andother modifications and variations may be possible in light in the aboveteachings. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to bestexplain the principles of the invention and its practical application tothereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the inventionin various embodiments and various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated. It is intended that the appended claims beconstrued to include other alternative embodiments of the inventionexcept insofar as limited by the prior art.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for transmitting requested contentitems, the method comprising: receiving requests for a plurality ofcontent items; maintaining a request count for each content item of theplurality of content items that indicates a number of times each contentitem has been requested; sorting the plurality of content items based onthe request count; determining an associated retransmit rate for each ofthe content items, content items with a higher request count receiving ahigher associated retransmit rate and are transmitted more frequentlythan content items with a lower request count, the retransmit rateindicating how often the content items should be retransmitted; andrepeatedly transmitting the content items at the associated retransmitrate.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating a list basedon the plurality of content items that are requested.
 3. The method ofclaim 2, further comprising removing a content item from the list ofcontent items based on the request count for the content item beingequal to or less than a predetermined content access count during apredefined period of time.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprisinggrouping at least some content items with a request count greater thanor equal to a predetermined access count into a transmit group.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, wherein the determining of the associated retransmitrate for each of the content items comprises determining a groupretransmit rate for the transmit group, the transmit group with a higherrequest count receiving a higher associated group retransmit rate than atransmit group with a lower request count, the group retransmit rateindicating how often the transmit group should be retransmitted, andwherein repeatedly transmitting the transmit group at the groupretransmit rate comprises repeatedly transmitting the transmit group atthe group retransmit rate.
 6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:determining a maximum size for the transmit group; based on the maximumsize not being reached, adding an additional content item having therequest count greater than or equal to the predetermined access count tothe transmit group; and based on the maximum size being reach,determining another transmit group to add the additional content itemhaving the request count greater than or equal to the predeterminedaccess count.
 7. A method comprising: receiving requests fortransmission of a plurality of content items; determining a rate ofrequest for each content item contained in a content item list based ona number of the requests received for each content item; determining anassociated retransmit rate for each of the content items in the contentitem list, the associated retransmit rate being based on the rate ofrequest, content items with a higher rate of request receiving a higherassociated retransmit rate and are transmitted more frequently thancontent items with a lower rate of request, the retransmit rateindicating how often the content items should be retransmitted; andrepeatedly transmitting the content items at the associated retransmitrate.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising: adding an additionalcontent item of a new request to the content item list based on thecontent item not being in the content item list; and deleting a contentitem from the content list based on the number of requests for thedeleted content item during a predefined time being less than apredefined rate of request.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein therepeatedly transmitting further comprises grouping at least some contentof the plurality of the content items into a transmit package based onthe rate of request of the at least some content being similar, whereinthe transmit package is of a predetermined maximum size.
 10. The methodof claim 9, wherein the determining the associated retransmit rate foreach of the content items comprises determining a group retransmit ratefor the transmit package, the transmit package with a higher requestcount receiving a higher associated group retransmit rate than atransmit package with a lower request count, the group retransmit rateindicating how often the transmit package should be retransmitted, andwherein repeatedly transmitting the transmit package at the groupretransmit rate comprises repeatedly transmitting the transmit packageat the group retransmit rate.
 11. The method of claim 7, wherein therepeatedly transmitting further comprises merging the content items withother transmitted data.
 12. A system comprising: one or more databasescontaining a plurality of content items and user request information forthe content items; a transmit unit; and a tangible machine-readablestorage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processorof a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:determining a rate of request for each content item based on the userrequest information for each the content items, determining anassociated retransmit rate for each content item of the plurality ofcontent items in the first database, the associated retransmit rateresponsive to the rate of request for each content item, content itemswith a higher rate of request receiving a higher associated retransmitrate and are transmitted more frequently than content items with a lowerrate of request, the retransmit rate indicating how often the contentitems should be retransmitted, and triggering the transmit unit torepeatedly broadcast the content items s to a downstream requestingdevice based on the retransmit rate.
 13. The system of claim 12, whereinthe transmit unit comprises a television transmitter.
 14. The system ofclaim 12, wherein the transmit unit comprises a server computerconnected to a network.
 15. The system of claim 12, wherein the contentitems comprise a selection from the group consisting or news, weather,stock information, and program content.
 16. The system of claim 12,wherein the associated retransmit rate is further responsive toavailable bandwidth for content item broadcast.
 17. The system of claim12, wherein the associated retransmit rate is further responsive to aduration of each content item of the plurality of content items in thefirst database.
 18. The system of claim 12, wherein the operationsfurther comprises grouping at least some content items with a requestcount greater than or equal to a predetermined access count into atransmit group.
 19. The system of claim 18, wherein the operationsfurther comprises determining a group retransmit rate for the transmitgroup, the transmit group with a higher request count receiving a higherassociated group retransmit rate than a transmit group with a lowerrequest count, the group retransmit rate indicating how often thetransmit group should be retransmitted, and wherein the operationsfurther comprises repeatedly transmitting the transmit group at thegroup retransmit rate.
 20. The method of claim 9, further comprising;determining the predetermined maximum size for the transmit package;based on the predetermined maximum size not being reached, adding anadditional content item having the rate of request that is similar tothe transmit package; and based on the predetermined maximum size beingreached, determining another transmit package to add the additionalcontent item having the rate of request that is similar.
 21. A tangiblemachine-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executedby a processor of a machine, cause the machine to perform operationscomprising: receiving requests for transmission of a plurality ofcontent items; determining a rate of request for each content item basedon a number of the requests received for each content item; determiningan associated retransmit rate for each of the content items, theassociated retransmit rate being based on the rate of request, contentitems with a higher rate of request receiving a higher associatedretransmit rate and are transmitted more frequently than content itemswith a lower rate of request, the retransmit rate indicating how oftenthe content items should be retransmitted; and repeatedly transmittingthe content items at the associated retransmit rate.